Land distribution: Jairam Ramesh bowls a googly

Another paragraph in the draft Bill says, “All states shall impose a ceiling not only on ‘ownership’ of land holdings, but also on ‘operational’ land holdings to prevent concentration of large tracts of land through lease-in.

“Under no circumstance shall a person/institution/organisation be allowed to own more land than the ceiling.”

The draft Bill does not make any distinction between private and government-owned institutions and doesn’t specify whether a person or institution or organisation would include factories or not.

Social activists say the provision is aimed at reining in private universities “that are interested in land grab rather than offering quality education at affordable prices”.

Land distribution: Jairam Ramesh bowls a googly

“Some private universities have campuses spread over hundreds of acres, which is absurd. Perhaps, the Bill is intended to check such misuse,” says an activist with Ekta Parishad, which has been fighting for land reforms for many years.

However, Dilip Mookherjee, professor of economics at Boston University and an expert on land reforms, says, “The ceiling limits on exemptions for religious, education, charitable institutions to a single plot of 15 acres is ridiculous.

“There will be further proliferation of institutions opened under different names to circumvent this regulation, while genuine charitable and educational institutions will be stymied.”

Maitreesh Ghatak, professor at the London School of Economics, says, “This does not make any sense at all.

Land distribution: Jairam Ramesh bowls a googly

Attempts to achieve judicious distribution of land can be traced to post-independence days.

Nearly all state governments have legislation to ensure no one holds land exceeding a certain ceiling, but these haven’t been followed, either in letter or spirit, in most states except West Bengal and Kerala.

Recently, the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar tried to give more teeth to its land reforms legislation, but had to beat a hasty retreat following opposition from the powerful land-owning class.

The draft Bill specifies “for the purpose of curbing and monitoring evasions of ceiling laws through fraudulent land transactions, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition of the Right to Recover Property) Act, 1989, shall be appropriately amended.”

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Image: A farmer works in his vegetable field.Photographs: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

Land distribution: Jairam Ramesh bowls a googly

“It is resisted vigorously by owners who tend to be politically more powerful.

“Of course, it increases the outside options of tenants and for those registered, it helps increase productivity and lower poverty, as shown by studies on the West Bengal tenancy reforms in the 70s and 80s.

"But one needs the political will and administrative ability to ensure this is enforced, which is typically lacking.”

Draft Land Reforms Bill

No institution or organisation should be allowed to hold more than 15 acres

Ceiling on ownership and control

For individuals or households, ceiling limit at five-10 acres in the case of irrigated land and 10-15 acres for non-irrigated land.

60 per cent of the country’s population has right over only five per cent of country’s land; whereas 10 per cent of the population has control over 55 per cent of the land

Barren and uncultivable land to be acquired for industry and public purposes